Redevelopment of council-owned Crawley depot planned

The money for the under-used site was approved during a meeting of the full council on Wednesday (March 30).

A further £300,000 will be transferred into a project delivery reserve.

The depot is currently used as a vehicle workshop and by neighbourhood services and the waste and recycling service.

A report to the meeting said staff would work from smaller sites across the town.

Details of the redevelopment project have not been shared, with documents marked exempt from publication for financial reasons.

But leader Peter Lamb said the scheme should bring in extra money to help pay for council services.

He added: “It is a good opportunity for us to make the most of existing council assets in order to enable us to continue to provide the quality of services that residents deserve.”

While supporting the funding, some Conservative councillors said it would be useful to know more about what was planned.

A seminar was due to be held to bring them up to speed but was subsequently cancelled.

Duncan Crow (Con, Furnace Green) said ‘opportunities should be seized’ to make use of under-used assets.

But he added: “We’re a little bit in the dark so we would like to be kept informed along the way.

“I don’t know exactly what is planned for this site. Hopefully it will be something good that, as the leader said, will provide revenue for the town and be a good use of the site.”

Mr Lamb said there was ‘no conspiracy’ behind not holding the seminar, simply that the required information was not ready.

He added: “It will all be made apparent very shortly.”

Speaking after the meeting, a council spokesman said: “We are looking at options to ensure we are making productive use of the depot going forward.

“These options will include consideration of its full or partial redevelopment potential.”

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